RO > call me out; a forever open RP post, version 2

[midvalley]

NEW OPEN RP POST

Comments

[animated]

When you've been around as long as I have, you tend to accumulate things.

[cultivations]

Long-lived, then, I take it? More and more surprises with you. Is there an end to it?

[animated]

Pretty much. Wizards usually have bout, eh, two hundred? Two hundred and fifty years in them. I'm still on the young side at eighty.

But I think that's the last of my surprises. I don't have anything else grand and shocking to tell you.

[cultivations]

Eighty, he says, as if that were unremarkable.

The average lifespan for mages back home is nowhere near as long, I'm afraid. Mostly occupational hazard. Occasionally, persecution. Even more likely, court intrigue is involved.

[animated]

What, so they literally stab each other in the back?

[cultivations]

Oh, that's too harsh. I believe the typical phrasing is, "eliminate dissenting opinions."

[animated]

Hah. [ he tries to make it sound flat and humorless, but there's something oddly bitter about his tone. He catches himself, though, and his next statement is far less venomous. ]

Wizards don't get that fancy. They just say it's been dealt with.

[cultivations]

[ hide it as he might, Dorian catches the twinge of bitterness there, that hint of something falling a little too close to some hidden target. It's not his place to ask, though he shuffles it away. ]

How delightfully brusque. I'm beginning to think I'll get along just fine, here.

[animated]

But I'm still assuming you want to get back home as soon as possible.

[cultivations]

Naturally. While I'm sure my presence here will brighten your dreary halls considerably, I've business to attend to back home. Worlds to save. Demons to kill. Insane cultists to murder.

You must know my predicament.

[animated]

Sounds like there's a good story there. Care to share?

[cultivations]

Really? I had thought I summed it up rather succinctly, there.

[animated]

Yeah, yeah, demons, cultists, and the world is ending. But that's not the whole story.

[cultivations]

Oh, it's really not so interesting. A figure from religious tales told simply as a warning against hubris made real, who is ripping apart reality in order to wrest control of the heavens to earn godlihood. Throw in demonic alliances and warriors corrupted with unnatural substances, political intrigue, and courtly dalliances, and you have my past year in a nutshell.

[animated]

[ Your last year sounds like a bitchin' D&D campaign. ]

Oh, is that all. And here I thought it would be something exciting.

[cultivations]

[ he shrugs his shoulders and sighs delicately. ]

I tried to warn you, but you did insist.

[animated]

Well, now I'll know better for next time.

[ and he nods back towards his movie collection ] Would you like to see how they work?

[cultivations]

Come up with a suitable explanation, then? One that, I hope, shan't warp and confuse my simple mind?

[animated]

Not really, but we can figure it out as we go.

[cultivations]

[ Dorian waves him on. ]

Go on, then. I shall do my best to keep myself from devolving into a confused, drooling mess until after you've finished.

[animated]

Well, I guess pick one that looks interesting to you?

[cultivations]

You wouldn't rather I defer to your expertise?

[animated]

I might guide you away from some things, but otherwise go for it. I want to see where this goes.

[cultivations]

[ He hums quietly to himself, fingers tapping lightly against his chin as he makes a show of thinking over his selection. Then, he chooses something that looks rather like a book -- The Fellowship of the Ring. ]

Would you consider this acceptable? I assume you must, considering you've kept it in your collection.

[animated]

[ he laughs a little- that somehow seems apt ]

It's like five hours long, but we can get it started.

[ he takes the case from Dorian, talking as he goes about setting things up ] I mentioned these are similar to plays right? Basically we've developed machines that allow us to record things that are happening as they happen and play them back later.

Thus the film industry was born. As time went on, recording methods became more complex, and we further developed machines to add things into the recordings- special effects, we call them- so things that could not possibly exist can now be on film, things that are too fantastic or too dangerous for actors are now possible. It's pretty much an art form.

And they put it all on this little disc. [ and he holds up the disc before putting it into the player ] That's it's own kind of magic right there.